Wake Up to Being Happy – Step One

Well the first thing to do when you awake is to leave the TV off. You do not need to be bombarded with bad news before you have even started your day. Even if you switch it on thinking you are not really listening to it and it’s just for background or company or any of the other absurd excuses people make for using a square box in their living room as some sort of excuse for good company. I can tell you now good company is not someone telling you how bad the world is and how miserable the weather is and how many accidents you will need to avoid on your way to work. Would you seriously call that having a fun start to the day.

When you first awake, take a few minutes to just be you. Enjoy breathing in and out, be grateful that you have woken up at all. Listen to the noises of your own home or your partners breathing, feel your fingers and toes moving and coming alive. If you hear yourself having an inner dialogue telling yourself how much work you have to do and what little time you have and how you really need to get a move on, stop the voice and just observe your thoughts without getting attached to them. Just see what they are saying but don’t move, just lay still. Now ask yourself this if you are actually aware that your thoughts are rambling on and on, then who is actually listening to them? This is the real you, the you that is in essence the only thing of importance, not the voice that is dictating to you what you should be doing or not doing. By just being you and letting yourself relax in this state of knowing, you are actually in a form of meditation. Slow your thinking down. You are able to function as a happy contented human being far more when you are being yourself and not letting your thoughts dictate your mood. Try this tomorrow and for the next few days and even if you only observe your thoughts for a few moments every morning you are already on your way to becoming a more happy and contented person. And remember if you can observe your own thoughts you are already half way there! after all who is doing the thinking, is it you or just a function of your brain and if so then is your brain actually telling you anything worth while – if not – turn it off.